The Mystery of the Missing Bear Bag

[Joe A]

On Thursday of last week, my wife and three kids (ages 4, 6, and 9) and I camped in a lovely spot along Flat Laurel Creek in the Pisgah National Forest. We pitched our tents, cooked supper and after getting all the dishes “camp clean,” packed out dishes and 3 days worth of food in our brand new Ursak 2XL. After hiking through the Shining Rock Wilderness a couple weeks ago with a bear canister, I was excited to try out a bag big enough to hold all the stuff for a multi-day family trip. Because the bag was so big, I also decided to pack in all our utilities and pots and anything that might have a strong scent to it. And given that the area we were in was only a couple miles from the trailhead on NC Hwy 215, I was more worried about the smaller critters than black bears, so after tying it with the “double slipknot” method advocated on the Ursack website, I hung it from a strong sturdy branch—about 6 feet off the ground and four feet from the trunk.

Within one hour of hanging the bag at 6 p.m., it was gone. My wife returned from a privy trip and said, “the bear bag is gone, and I didn’t stick around to find out what took it.” So I walked the 50 paces to where it had been, and indeed it was gone. At first, we both thought that a critter or bear had gotten to it. But the odd thing is that there was “no sign of a struggle,” as the detectives say. While the knot that I used to close the bag was bomb-proof and secured by a carabiner in case a bear tugged at it, the slippery half hitch with which I had attached the bag to the limb-rope was completely unfazed. It certainly looked to my eyes like someone or something just came along and unclipped that carabiner and walked off with it. Given all the stuff that was in the bag, it seems unlikely that a raccoon or other varmint would be able to drag such a heavy thing off.

So, to you my ultralight Sherlocks, I ask, who…or what took our stuff?

Here are some other clues:

Possible suspects: hard to determine. We only passed two couples and a nice retired lady. We saw no one else on the two mile hike in to the site, and no one while we were there. In the limited time-frame when the crime was committed, my kids were in their tent—50 paces away—while my wife and I were hanging out down on the rocks by the creek. Bear or human—this was one surreptitious creature.

Suppose it was a bear. We saw no signs of bear droppings or missing tree-bark etc. It is a popular trail with a fair number of people moving in and out through the day. Could the bear smell the food (in spite of it being in an Opsack) and get it down inside of a half hour–with people nearby? How would a bear unclip a carabiner? Wouldn’t a sissy knot like a slippery half-hitch be at least a bit tightened? This knot was just as I had left it.

Suppose it was a human. What kind of person would scope out a theft well enough to know when mom and dad are off by the creek but not care about taking food from three children in the wilderness? I’ve always assumed that backpackers are respectful of one another. Just the week before when hiking through Investor Ridge and Big Grassy Top I saw numerous tents left wide open with gear inside. People around here just don’t do stuff like that to each other. And besides, even hikers who aren’t worrying about their weight would be loathe to burden themselves with 30 liters of extra gear and food. On the other hand, if they knew how good my wife’s chia seed/coconut oatmeal is, perhaps we have all the motive we need!

If it was a person, does that mean I need to worry about people more than I worry about black bears? Is it safe to take my kids into places where a person would steal their food?

So what do you think? Am I just an idiot for hanging my food at punching bag height for a bear? Or is some Eric Rudolph character camped out on top of Little Sam Knob thanking his lucky stars that he marked a rube like me fortunate enough to marry a backcountry chef?

I welcome your advice, insight, and especially your forensic genius.

[Jon Fong / Flat Cat Gear]

I hung it from a strong sturdy branch—about 6 feet off the ground and four feet from the trunk.

Sounds WAY to0 low to me.  Seems like the bag itself  needs to be more like 12-15 feet up and at least 10-12 away from a trunk.  There are instructions out there.  My 2 cents.

[Joe A]

As a former baseball player, I’ve relished the chance to toss a rock-bag onto the highest branch in three counties. Heck, last time the fam and I were in the Cohutta for a couple nights, I managed to get my bag over a 30′ limb–too high even for my length of line. But after a couple near misses with rock bags missing my face and hearing the number of injuries that happen in this way, and the relative ineffectiveness of standard bear hangs, I wanted to try a different method.

So, sure, having the Ursack probably gave me a false sense of security that led to sloppy practice. Kinda like all the people who thought that having barefoot running shoes would in and of itself correct their form. I get that. Obviously, if I had it to do over again, I’d tie it to the base of the tree.

Only this case is still no closer to being solved by pointing out my poor form. If it was a bear, wouldn’t there be some sign of it–a tightened knot, a strained rope, a snapped limb? I wish I had taken a picture of this rope. It had not been disturbed in the slightest. How could a bear pull the bag off without disturbing rope or knot?

[d k]

Given that you were only a couple miles off the trailhead, I’d presume somebody sneaky snatched it.  The other possibility is that a ranger felt it was an unsafe hang, and removed it from the area, but I think they would have left a note.  Have you contacted the ranger station to see if any other such thefts have occurred?

[Pedestrian]

Two miles from a trail head???

Any one could’ve grabbed it and got away with it.

[J-L]

Maybe I’m missing something, but it does not seem like you tied the Ursack to the tree following their instructions. You’re not supposed to hang it like a normal bear bag.

[Joe A]

Yes, correct. I did not tie to the base of the tree. When I said I did what was recommended on the Ursack website, I only meant as it related to the knot, not to the hang, location, height etc.

[Chris R]

So the carabiner was tied to the tree and the Ursack was clipped to the carabiner? Non-locking? Does sound like an animal could potentially have twisted the bag and released the carabiner, particularly if it was close enough to the branch to push up against and create leverage.

[HkNewman]

Close to a trailhead?  Think it’s a two legged thief.  With low gas prices and mass unemployment, thinking  trailheads may see visits of more potential thieves.

[Joe A]

Chris,

So the carabiner was tied to the tree and the Ursack was clipped to the carabiner? Non-locking?

Rope was looped over a tree branch, but 4 or so feet from the trunk. To my way of thinking, not close enough to get leverage.

Carabiner was lightweight and non-locking. Again–I was mainly concerned with critters and not black bears given the area.

[Chris R]

I’m still thinking raccoons. Or maybe in partnership with a bear.

[d k]

To unclip the biner and lift out the rope loop, I think you’d pretty much need opposable thumbs, or a lot of chewing and messing around (which you neither heard nor saw evidence of).  IMO: Human.  Report it.

[Todd T]

Rope was looped over a tree branch, but 4 or so feet from the trunk. To my way of thinking, not close enough to get leverage.

Six feet in the air would seem to give the bear a lot of weight leverage.  My approach to placing my Ursack is to put it around a tree or hang from a limb high enough that a bear can’t pull up on it with its strong shoulders but low enough that it can’t bounce its weight down on it.  Maybe 4 to 5 feet high would seem to give the bear the least leverage.  High enough that front feet have to be off the ground, but not so high it can hang its whole weight on it.

That said, I really don’t know if any of that matters and would put my money on a two-legged thief in your case.

[Nick Gatel]

That said, I don’t know if any of that matters and would put my money on a two-legged thief in your case.

Yes.

I’ve been using Ursacks for over 10 years. Properly tied to a tree, it is time consuming for me to remove it with my opposed thumbs.

So lessoned learned. Right?

[Ryan “Rudy” Oury]

I assume you’re the same guy that posted this on Reddit? I’ll just copy my post from there then :)

Definitely human. I live near Ocala Natl Forest in Central FL and have heard many stories of people who live in the forest stealing peoples bear bags during the night. Haven’t heard of this brazen a “midday” theft yet but it’s the only plausible explanation. Unfortunately many people just don’t see taking someone else’s food as unacceptable.

[M B]

It was your wife.

She only pretended to go to the privy.

She really got hungry, ate all the food, and then hid the bear bag to get rid of the evidence.  Or… She was ready to go home and saw her opportunity to force it.

I’d sleep with one eye open if I were you…..shes crafty….

 

[Bill in Roswell]

Joe, I know that area. It is a very active black bear area. In fact, Pisgah NF website states that bear cans are required at Shining Rock, Sam’s Knob and Flat Laurel Creek. That said, some friends camping at Panthertown hung their Ursak (having used properly before without issue) without thinking. Soon they heard noise. A large Male bear was pulling on the hanging cord, soon broke it and grabbed the Ursak. My friends banged pots, blew whistles, threw rocks and the bear ran off, having opened the bag and scattered contents. Not wanting a repeat event, my friends packed out at 11pm ! Personally, I carry an air horn, what rangers use to scare bears out of campgrounds.

[Sam C]

Funny, you don’t mention suspicion it may have been one of your kids.

If it was a bear your kids would’ve heard it make noise.

Also, you say the campsite was two miles from the trailhead but was the campsite right off the trail?  Whatever the case, this was human.

[Author]

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